Something to keep in mind is while the layout might look a tad bit bland at its current anticipated speed, we don't know the riding position yet which could affect the layout immensely. Not trying to put a spin on this story or anything, but the excitement might begin to boost over the next couple of months after more details are revealed. At the moment my only concern with this addition is the theming, as the area where the project is being constructed is incredibly bland and void of trees, which greatly contrasts many of the other more wooded attractions at the park. Although considering the surrounding trees and foliage near the parks coasters were essentially razed after this past season, perhaps that will be the new normal for future additions at Dollywood?
As the population ages, it's become apparent across the industry that nearly all parks have a need for more than one family coaster. Take a look at BGW, where we have arguably two-family coasters that are drastically different from one another. One is a smaller GCI that stays fairly low to the ground, hugging the terrain, and doesn't really have too many major drops and only a few pops of light floater airtime. The other is Verbolten which is a highly themed, very intense roller coaster with several high G-Force segments in near darkness. While they were both marketed as a family coaster the argument could be made that Verbolten has crossed the threshold into the adult coaster market with it's forceful launches and brutally intense indoor section compared to InvadR.
So while comparisons can be made between this and Firechaser Express it will simply be the next stepping stone in the Dollywood roller coaster line-up. This roller coaster is going to be "multigenerational" and serve as a stepping stone between Firechaser Express and some of the larger mechanical beasts in the park like Wild Eagle or Tennesse Torando that might be viewed as intimidating by younger riders. There is a large gap in the line-up, and as many others have already voiced in this thread, Dollywood is first and foremost a family park. The park recognizes that there is a gap in this line-up and is going to fill this in, before adding whatever is the next thoosie wet-dream addition to the park.
As the population ages, it's become apparent across the industry that nearly all parks have a need for more than one family coaster. Take a look at BGW, where we have arguably two-family coasters that are drastically different from one another. One is a smaller GCI that stays fairly low to the ground, hugging the terrain, and doesn't really have too many major drops and only a few pops of light floater airtime. The other is Verbolten which is a highly themed, very intense roller coaster with several high G-Force segments in near darkness. While they were both marketed as a family coaster the argument could be made that Verbolten has crossed the threshold into the adult coaster market with it's forceful launches and brutally intense indoor section compared to InvadR.
So while comparisons can be made between this and Firechaser Express it will simply be the next stepping stone in the Dollywood roller coaster line-up. This roller coaster is going to be "multigenerational" and serve as a stepping stone between Firechaser Express and some of the larger mechanical beasts in the park like Wild Eagle or Tennesse Torando that might be viewed as intimidating by younger riders. There is a large gap in the line-up, and as many others have already voiced in this thread, Dollywood is first and foremost a family park. The park recognizes that there is a gap in this line-up and is going to fill this in, before adding whatever is the next thoosie wet-dream addition to the park.